Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his new coalition partner,
Shaul Mofaz, have pledged to introduce legislative reforms which will
ensure that all Israeli citizens – including haredim (ultra-
Orthodox) and Arabs – will be obliged to fulfill their civic duty by
serving in the IDF or undertaking a form of national service. The
granting of indefinite exemptions or special privileges will be
terminated. The reforms, which must be in place by August when the
Tal Law expires, are also intended to create conditions which will
ensure that haredim assume a more productive role within the Israeli
economy.

Mofaz committed himself to “changing the agenda” and “creating a more
united Israel society.” He stated explicitly that “we are looking
directly at the majority of the population which serves, and at the
minority that dodges the draft and does not serve.”

Both leaders face a dilemma. They are desperate to avoid a major
confrontation and seek to retain long-standing relationships with the
haredi political parties who, over the past decades, have held the
balance of power and were in a position to determine the composition
of governments.

They both mumble reassurances to the haredim that their concerns will
be considered, however the people and the media will be monitoring
these issues closely. Should the government renege on this
commitment, or indulge in mere cosmetic exercises, it would ignite
the ire of the nation and there would be an awesome electoral
backlash from enraged rank-and-file Israelis against both Likud and
Kadima.

Regrettably, notwithstanding the absence of halachic grounds to
justify draft evasion or the negation of earning a livelihood, most
haredi rabbis are determined to forestall any reform and have already
threatened that their parties would bolt the coalition if changes are
implemented. Thus, the haredi parties (and the Arabs) have hitherto
refused to nominate representatives to the Knesset committee, chaired
by Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner, to formulate legislative proposals.

Whilst Rabbi Yaakov Litzman of United Torah Judaism proclaims, “We
will not tolerate a situation in which someone wishing to engage in
Torah studies would be denied that option,” the real haredi concern
is that their students will be taken out of their self-imposed
ghettos and exposed to the world at large.

The government is also obliged to relate to the escalating percentage
of youngsters enrolled in the state-sponsored haredi school system
who receive no secular education whatsoever and upon graduation would
only qualify for the most menial jobs. Most haredi rabbis dissuade
them from seeking gainful employment in order to learn Torah full
time, obligating lifelong subsistence on state welfare.

THIS NEGATIVE attitude toward earning a livelihood is utterly counter
to Jewish tradition.

In fact, most ultra-Orthodox Jews in Diaspora communities not only
earn a livelihood but many are professionals and even include wealthy
businessmen.

The demographic explosion within the haredi sector has now reached a
level where Bank of Israel Gov. Stanley Fischer has warned that the
economy is unable to provide the funding required to sustain such a
huge indolent population.

The government must also deal with the mounting rage among non-
observant and national-religious Israelis concerning the ultra-
Orthodox hijacking of state rabbinical institutions and their
imposition of excessively stringent standards of halachic
interpretation on the entire nation, especially in relation to
marriage and conversion.

There is the ticking time bomb of 350,000 non-halachic Jews of mixed
parentage (primarily from the former Soviet Union), whose children
serve in the IDF, many of whom remain unaware of the implications of
their status until they wish to marry. Yet, rather than displaying
halachic sensitivity, the Chief Rabbinate imposes unprecedentedly
draconian obstacles to conversion and has even sought to rescind
conversions by national-religious rabbis.

Last week, overriding hundreds of years of halachic precedence which
recognized the validity of all Orthodox Bet Din conversions, the
Chief Rabbinate proclaimed that only conversions conducted by a
handful of Diaspora rabbis selected by the Chief Rabbinate would be
recognized in Israel. Olim converted outside this framework would be
obliged to undergo a new conversion process.

Unless revoked, this new edict will intensify tensions between Israel
and the Diaspora.

Clearly there is an urgent need for government intervention to
recognize authorized conversions and for centrist national-religious
rabbis to reject such approaches and create their own Batei Din.

These issues of religion and state now stand at a crossroads. But the
government’s current massive Knesset majority provides it with a
unique opportunity to introduce the long overdue reforms without the
threat of veto from the haredi parties.

The government must not only scrap the Tal Law and ensure that
conscription or national service becomes mandatory for all sections
of society. It must also initiate legislation making it obligatory
for all schools – including the haredi network – to incorporate a
core secular curriculum of language, mathematics and civics to
provide students with a worldly education and enable them to earn a
livelihood. Implementing such reforms will be difficult but is
achievable if the government displays determination and curtails
state aid to schools which refuse to incorporate the minimum core
curriculum.

Such dramatic societal changes cannot be implemented overnight or
achieved simply by legislative fiat. It will require sensitivity and
recognition and Prime Minister Netanyahu has undertaken to institute
the changes gradually in a manner designed to minimize civil discord.
Besides, the IDF requires preparation time before it can absorb huge
numbers of haredim, the special requirements of whom it will be
obliged to cater to.

Creative solutions must be employed to enforce such legislative
changes without resorting to state power to prosecute and fill jails
with haredim refusing to serve. Israel HaYom columnist Dan Margalit
suggested that the most effective manner to enforce compliance would
be to deny state monetary benefits and eligibility for government
facilities such as driver’s licenses and government employment.

In the current toxic climate, some haredim see the writing on the
wall and appreciate that this government would act far less harshly
than an aggressively secular anti-haredi government. Increasing
numbers are now beginning to instill in their youngsters the
realization that earning a livelihood is obligatory. They appreciate
that they will be the main beneficiaries and will ultimately enjoy a
higher standard of living without necessarily compromising their way
of life and that instead of being reviled by most Israelis, they will
become respected.